


Terms of Endearment

by DahYelTal



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, POV Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Racism, Spock Knows More Than He Lets On, Xenoantagonism, Xenophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27902008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DahYelTal/pseuds/DahYelTal
Summary: Leonard finds himself in a makeshift holding cell as the first arrest on New Vulcan...for fighting. No one can understand why he did it, and he won't say anything, but he's keen on punishing himself for whatever happened.Or: Leonard finds out that a security officer took his jabs at Spock as a sign that he was a Terran purist so he corrected the man with his fists.
Relationships: Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Spock
Comments: 10
Kudos: 113





	Terms of Endearment

**Author's Note:**

> Pleas heed the xenophobia/xenoantagonistic warning. I wrote this fic as a way to bring McCoy to task for his xenoantagonistic remarks. Though he may see them as harmless because he "isn't racist", it does not make his words any less harmful. It's an important conversation the fandom needs to have, so I wrote a bit on it.
> 
> Special thanks to MudkipStar and PrairieDawn for their wonderful beta work!

Leonard watched as Jim paced outside of his makeshift jail cell on New Vulcan. Never in a million years did Leonard think he’d be the first one arrested—much less for violence—on the newly established colony, but here they were on shore leave, his ass behind metaphorical bars. He looked up whenever Jim sputtered or motioned like he was going to say something, but his words were aborted every time with a frustrated groan. Hell, he didn’t understand what happened either, it just happened, but he wasn’t sorry for it. Leonard was sorry that he didn’t guard his own face as well as he would have if he had a cooler head, but that was it.

“What the hell were you thinking, Bones?!” Jim finally managed to spit out through clenched teeth. He was  _ livid _ , and rightfully so. It was embarrassing on all accounts, but especially for the captain of the very ship that managed to get the Vulcans safely off their dying planet. “Were you even thinking at all?!”

“Well, I—”

“No, shut the fuck up!” Jim pulled at his hair and his pacing got tighter until he was practically turning side to side in his frustration. “You’re an idiot. You fucked up big time. If Spock and Sarek can’t smooth things over, I will not hesitate to leave you here. Understood?”

Leonard nodded miserably as he looked at his hands, which were red and raw from pummelling that damn fool. He couldn’t help but chuckle when he thought about how his and the captain’s roles were reversed less than a decade ago. It was always him bailing Jim out and bandaging him up, then it was him making sure Jim didn’t get into scuffles in the first place.

“What’s so funny? Nothing’s funny, Bones! I can’t  _ believe _ you! You’re a doc—” Jim quieted down when he noticed Spock and Sarek entering the room. “I’m not finished with you, Bones,” he muttered and backed away to let the two Vulcans approach.

Leonard was mortified that Sarek had to see him like this. He respected the man, even if he thought he was too harsh on Spock at times. This wasn’t exactly the impression he wanted to leave him with, especially when the last time they were in the same room he was patching up a whole mess of Vulcan elders. Not that he wanted Sarek to associate that particular moment in time with him, but it was better than brawling with a security officer after he’d just got done healing the bastard.

Spock was the first to step up and Leonard winced at the blow he knew was coming. “Your behavior was unbecoming of a member of Starfleet, much less of a chief medical officer. It was an extreme overreaction to ‘shooting the shit’ as the other officer informed us, so much so that I believe this out of character response must have had another catalyst. As you have yet to inform us of why you responded the way you did, we can only conclude that you are attempting to punish yourself for your actions.”

Jim tried to offer his commentary, but Spock silenced him with a glance. Once it was clear Jim wasn’t going to interrupt, the younger Vulcan continued. “While I may often refer to you as overemotional, I have never once seen you respond with violence to a sudden influx of emotion.” Spock spared a glance at his father and lowered his eyes, his cheeks flushing a light bronze. “As someone who shares this characteristic, I know the extremes to which we will go to maintain our pacifist ideals.” The room felt heavy with that admission, all of them knowing to which incident he was referring.

Leonard would never forget seeing Spock choke Jim on the bridge, but part of him deep, deep down didn’t hate Spock’s reaction. His fingers curled against his thighs and his nails scraped against his uniform pants as he remembered the cool verbal bombs that his friend blasted Spock with that day. It was unfair, uncalled for, and the wrong way to get Spock to admit that he shouldn’t be captain. Leonard winced and reached up to rub his tense jaw, forgetting the large bruise that was there. Pain rippled through him, he was satisfied to note.

“Further, your insistence that your injuries not be healed lends credence to my hypothesis that the security officer said or did something so abhorrent that you lost your senses. You were emotionally compromised, doctor.” Spock stepped closer and put a hand against the divider. “The question now is what caused that compromise.”

“Well good luck figurin’ that out, Sherlock, ‘cause I ain’t tellin’ ya anything.” Leonard’s words fell flat due to the lack of fight in his voice, but he hoped they took him at his word anyway. “All I can tell ya is that I just stopped thinkin’ and started swingin’.”

Sarek stepped forward next to Spock and fixed Leonard with a steady gaze. Leonard tried to avoid his eyes, but couldn’t resist for long. The man demanded it without saying a word or lifting a finger. “Dr. McCoy, you are well respected among all Vulcans. While we have maintained most of your privacy, the Vulcans who did learn of the incident, myself included, only wish to know the reason for your outburst. To say that we are fascinated by such a reaction from one held in such esteem by our people would be a grave understatement.”

Leonard blushed and turned away. He wouldn’t tell ‘em. He’d tell Jim, but not Spock or Sarek. This wasn’t something they needed to hear, it just needed to be handled quietly, without their knowledge. Although, now he was wondering how Jim could possibly dishonorably discharge the security officer without Spock’s knowledge—but that wasn't something he wanted to deal with right now. No, he just wanted to wallow for a bit and think about just why—beyond the obvious—he reacted so strongly.

The door flung open and two red shirts—well, a red shirt and a red skirt—came running in. Scotty and Uhura both started talking, then went silent to let the other continue, and then they were back to talking at the same time. Leonard first thought it was adorable, but then he paled. “Shit, you found out. Don’t you dare! You two shut up right now, this is between me ‘n’ the captain!”

Uhura glared at him as she walked straight up to Spock while Scotty went over to Jim. Leonard sank his face into his palms and groaned. “They don’t need to hear what he said, I don’t want to hear it again either! Alright?! Just leave it alone! Let me handle it!”

“Ye aren't handling it weel, Leonard,” Scotty said in his annoyingly disarming accent. “Ye dinnae deserve tae be locked up.”

“Spock, Sarek, you both need to know that—"

“I said don’t tell ‘em! Dammit!” Leonard shot to his feet and slammed his palm against the barrier. It hurt like hell and he immediately backed away, clutching his hand. “ _ Fuck _ ,” he said quietly, although he knew Sarek would hear him regardless.

“Anyway,” Uhura said casually, “the other security personnel in the area finally came forward with what actually went down. They all thought McCoy would handle it on his own, especially since this was dishonorable discharge-level xenoantagonism, but they came forward when we mentioned that McCoy  _ didn’t _ .”

Spock’s left eyebrow flew up and he looked at Leonard, who looked away, before turning back to Uhura. “What was said?”

“Don’t,  _ please _ , Uhura,” Leonard begged softly.

Uhura crossed her arms and glared at Leonard. “The security officer insulted Spock’s Vulcan heritage, Vulcans as a whole, and—”

“Dammit, Uhura, STOP!”

“Called his mother a race traitor.”

Sarek walked over in seven precisely measured steps and turned off the cell barrier with more flourish than he normally displayed. “I will inform the council Dr. McCoy is to be forgiven and he will face no punishment from Vulcankind  _ or Starfleet _ .” He didn’t even look at Jim or Spock, he didn’t need to, as he swept out of the room.

Spock didn’t take his eyes off of Leonard, who was sneaking glances his way between his fingers. He had no idea how long it took before the XO carried a medkit over to him, but that’s when he snapped out of his stupor. Leonard scooted as far away as he could and hid his hands behind his back, shaking his head. “No, Spock, I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve your father pulling ambassador rank with Jim, either.”

Jim, for his part, stepped to the edge of the former cell and shook his head. “No, I agree with him, and while I don’t exactly agree with your methods I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

“That’s the thing, Jim, it wouldn’t have happened with you.” Leonard grudgingly let Spock maneuver his hand to where he could reach it with the medical tricorder for diagnostics. Mostly because it fucking hurt—and Spock was using that to his full advantage, the sadistic prick.

“Well, yeah, he might not have done it with the captain but Scotty? Cupcake? Could’ve been anyone but Uhura and me.”

Leonard shook his head and glared at Jim. “No,” he said firmly. “It happened because I constantly say things like that and he thought…” Leonard grit his teeth together with a curse and he felt his eyes start to sting, and he knew it wasn't because of the pain. When Spock looked up at him expectantly, he didn’t even try to hide the waver in his voice. “He thought I meant them. You know I don’t mean them, right Spock?”

“Given your habit of insulting the captain on a regular basis, along with Lieutenant Commander Scott and several of the bridge crew and medical personnel that you consider more than coworkers, I have come to assume that this is merely your way of showing your deep respect for us. While I do not understand this particular behavior, should you refrain from engaging me in this manner it would be...disconcerting.” Spock gave Leonard’s hand a firm squeeze before picking up the regenerator to start the healing process.

“Spock, you—" Leonard winced as Spock shifted his hand to attend to his fractured knuckles. “You can’t give me a pass to be xenoantagonistic just ‘cause we’re friends.”

Jim cleared his throat and leaned over to pat Leonard once on the shoulder. “We’re going to clear out and handle the lieutenant’s punishment, probably with Sarek ‘cause I think New Vulcan instituted some pretty heavy hate speech laws. You should, uhh, tell Spock that thing you’ve not been telling him for months now.”

“Jim,” Leonard said through his teeth with a murderous glare.

The ass of a captain held up his palms innocently and gave Leonard his usual charming get-out-of-trouble grin before waving the others out of the room.

Uhura threw out her own parting gift. “Spock, you should also tell our good doctor here what you’ve been attempting to tell him for months. Only be straightforward about it, because your subtle methods clearly haven’t been working.” She also grinned when her words caused Spock’s hands to fumble. Her ponytail swayed as she turned on a dime and marched out with Scotty, and with one final swish of the door, they were left alone. The silence stretched between them as Spock resumed his detailed passes over Leonard’s hand.

“Spock—"

“Leonard—”

More silence.

“Sp—"

“Len—"

“Dammit, Spock, shut up,  _ please _ .”

Spock’s mouth clicked shut and his right eyebrow raised as he shut off the regenerator.

But now… Leonard didn’t know how to say it, and the silence loomed around them again. He cursed to himself and crossed his arms in a defensive move that also left him hurting. He’d nearly forgotten that his torso took a pretty heavy beating once they started wrestling on the ground. While he was far better at hand to hand combat than most medical professionals, even in Starfleet, he was no match for someone in security.

“You have more injuries. I should have anticipated this.” Spock said something that might have been a Vulcan curse as he carefully maneuvered Leonard’s arms out of the way and started lifting up his shirt. Leonard, of course, tried to stop him, but the sudden movement only made the pain worse, so he just sat back like a rag doll. Spock had one hand holding up both of Leonard’s uniform shirts and the other holding the regen unit. “I will now ‘shut up’ if you wish to continue with what you were attempting to say previously.”

“Kinda weird to ask if you wanna go on a date while you’re practically at second base.” Leonard had managed to keep his uniform from riding up past his pecs, but only barely. “Not that you have second base intentions.” He rolled his eyes as he realized how quickly he walked into one of their usual standup comedy routines. “Hell, it’s not like you even know what any of the bases mean.”

“I am currently only looking at you in the medical and platonic senses, but should you wish the nature of my gaze to change, I would be amenable.” Spock said it so coolly that Leonard almost missed it entirely behind the whirl of the regen going across his ribs.

When it did finally register, his brain short-circuited and Leonard grabbed both of Spock’s hands and—immediately fucking regretted it because his own hands weren’t fully healed yet. And pulling away made his torso hurt, and his shoulders, which he only just now realized might have been injured when he was tossed to the ground.  _ Fuck, I hurt so goddamn bad, this is shit timing goddammit _ . “I’ll take that gaze change if it also comes with a room change, ‘cause this is too damn public. Speaking of, where the hell am I?” He paused. “Holy hell, did I pass out?! Did I lose the fight so badly that I passed out?!”

Spock nodded and tugged Leonard’s shirt down before standing up. He offered his arm out to Leonard, who took it gingerly and used it to get up without much fuss. “You sustained a concussion, which caused you to lose consciousness and preliminary treatment was performed. When you regained consciousness, you refused further treatment. I will never again doubt Nurse Chapel when she makes claims about you, you  _ are _ the worst patient.” He walked Leonard slowly and carefully out of the weird offshoot room they were in. “As for your first question, you are in an unused storage portion of my family estate. My father and I vouched for you and took you into our custody until the matter was sorted.”

“You two believed in me that much?” As much as Leonard loved his friends, he’d never truly see what they saw in him. He was just a grouchy old doctor who'd gotten away with saying xenoantagonistic things for far too long, and that emboldened some ass to think he’d believe in his Terran-purity nonsense. “I still shouldn’t have hit him, that was wildly out of line.”

“On the contrary. Are you aware of the tolerance paradox?”

“Something about tolerating intolerance leads to intolerance?”

“Correct. I further believe that you cannot peacefully subdue those who preach hate and intolerance. I have studied much of Earth’s history, and I have yet to come across a single instance where the oppressed appealed to the humanity of those in power and received better treatment.”

Leonard nodded thoughtfully. “Well, yeah, but he’s just one guy.”

“We have both witnessed what ‘just one guy’ can accomplish through hatred, Leonard. While the situations are not the same, the sentiment stands. The lieutenant could have amassed a small following among the Enterprise, enough to put other non-Terrans at risk. Given that a superior officer was willing to risk his career by assaulting him, he may now think before making another attempt at his hate speech.”

While Spock was giving Leonard the pep talk he’d never expected, the two were travelling down a pristinely—albeit sparsely—decorated corridor that eventually led to an elaborately carved set of doors. Spock stopped and turned to Leonard with his hands tucked neatly behind his back in his usual parade rest. Leonard was still admiring the woodwork when a sultry tenor voice met his ears. “This is my wing of the estate. It is entirely private if you wish to, perhaps, hit a double.”

Leonard’s brain stuttered to a stop and he blinked a few times at the ground before moving to face Spock and blink a few more times. He didn’t know what to target first.  _ So Spock knows the bases  _ **_and_ ** _ knows baseball?! What in the Sam Hill? Has he been understanding  _ **_all_ ** _ of my euphemisms these past few years? Oh my god. OH MY GOD. _

“Leonard? Did I...overstep? I apologize, Doctor, I was… Jim and Nyota both indicated… and you indicated…”

“No, no, no, it’s fine, Spock.” Leonard snorted and let a few chuckles escape. “It’s just that I’ve thought for years now that you didn’t know what my euphemisms an’ southern metaphors actually meant. You cheeky son of a gun, you had me fooled.”

The corners of Spock’s mouth ticked upwards briefly, but not briefly enough for Leonard to miss. “It is quite an enjoyable pastime to hear you attempt to explain them, particularly the more convoluted ones. However, I must confess that I do not know all of them, so I will continue to rely on you to translate them for me.”

Leonard leaned against the door. “Is this where you tell me that you are not, in fact, a son of a gun?”

“I do not need to be a medical doctor to understand basic biology, Leonard,” Spock deadpanned with a straighter-than-Vulcan-normal face.

“Right, right. Of course. Now I don’t s’pose you’d let an injured man into your  _ entire wing of this giant house _ and heal him up? I’m, uh, running on a lot of adrenaline here, and the pain’s kinda starting to kick in.” Leonard gestured vaguely to his torso. “‘Specially this part. I got a workout and got worked over at the same time. I haven’t hurt this bad since I crashed my daddy’s truck into a tree when I was fourteen.”

Spock nodded and reached around Leonard to push one of the doors open. “Must I look on you as a healer?”

“No, Spock. Definitely not.”


End file.
